Jim Emery

This is the scene in our documentary Hotshot that screwed it from getting sold at Netflix and HBO, and it's probably the most important for people to see. Our film implores Californians that if they clear their brush, they actually have a shot of withstanding an 85mph firestorm, and obsessing over climate is a distraction (when it comes to wildfire)...we show that throughout history, we've always had massive fires, and they actually used to be worse, even way back when the climate was "optimal", and everyone screaming "unprecedented" just doesn't know their fire history. When we were in negotiations, these production companies didn't like that message, and wanted us to re-edit the film to make it climate-focused. We pushed back and told them "being climate-focused is why CA is in the mess that it's in...and continuing to ignore the dire fuels problem means that there's going to be another massive fire that nukes everything, and when everybody's watching their Teslas burning in their Malibu garage covered in solar panels...nobody's going to understand why it happened." They didn't like that. Well, here we are. I didn't re-cut the film. I left it as-is and released it independently. I really wish that this cult-like activism hadn't poisoned Hollywood. I really wish people had listened. I feel like Cassandra with a mustache and I legit lose hair over it. Oh well. Hollywood is dead, anyway.

This is what those gusts will look like tomorrow, mid-day. #LineFire

People keep saying "no immediate threat to Big Bear"...I think the word "immediate" is doing a lotta work here. We talking like the next 2 minutes? Sure. But...y'all should maybe peek at the winds tomorrow. Would not be surprised to see her knocking. #LineFire

The most interesting thing about the #BridgeFire today is that the IR flight found possible heat signatures inside the months-old #VistaFire scar...meaning there may be some buried jackpots or stumps still smoldering long after that fire was contained, which isn't that unusual, actually. The Thomas Fire reportedly had some timber pits putting out heat for a YEAR after the fire was out. Many of the Canadian wildfires from last year are still smoldering, even after a Canadian winter. Strange, but does happen. As for this fire...nothing doing. Only 33 acres of growth, nothing visible on cameras. Multiple shifts of favorable weather and low activity, allowing for the 90 million hand crews on the incident more time to construct line. This doesn't mean there ain't arduous, dangerous work going on...these firefighters continue to risk their lives with back-breaking labor for weeks and weeks after the media have left because there's no burning structures left to film. And if these Hotshot crews and T2IA crews didn't do this work, this thing could flare up at the next wind event, and it's off to the races again. Hats off to them. They don't get nearly enough compensation or credit for the critical work they do.